Slab Builder

The Slab Builder allows you to construct slabs from a crystal.

How to use the slab builder

  1. Start from a 3D periodic crystal The Slab Builder operates on bulk crystals (3D periodic systems).

  2. Convert to the conventional cell (recommended) In most cases, click Convert To Conventional Cell before setting Miller indices.

    Note

    For many primitive non-conventional cells (for example primitive FCC/BCC settings), slab orientation from Miller indices is only correct after conversion to the conventional cell. If needed, use Edit → Undo to revert the conversion.

  3. Specify the number of layers Set Number of layers to the desired slab thickness.

  4. Specify Miller indices Enter Miller indices for the target surface:

    • Most lattices: 3-index (h k l)

    • Hexagonal lattices: 4-index (h k i l) with h + k + i = 0

  5. Generate Slab Click Generate Slab to create the slab. You can click Generate Slab again to retry with different settings from the original structure loaded when opening the builder. Use Close to accept the current result and close the builder, or Cancel to discard changes.

After generating a slab, information about the result is shown in the message area below the visualization (including the layer count and number of atoms). The lattice vectors are updated.

If the current engine supports it, periodicity will switch to 2 (Slab).

Dry run

Enable Dry run to generate and save the Python script without running it. The script can serve as a starting point for running slab generation from Python, or for inspecting the parameters and process used to create the slab.